A Dare, Or Something More Sinister?
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS... I'm just taking the characters for a spin!
Author's Notes: Thank-you all for the reviews, I'm glad you all like it... as always a few more wouldn't go unnoticed! Please!
And of course, again a humungous thank-you to Kate for her terrific work and inspiration!
"What!" Tony shouted
Gibbs slammed on the brakes so hard that they heard the tyres squeal, everybody in the car was thrown forwards by the abrupt braking. As the car stopped skidding and came to a stop, the airbags came out, making popping noises. They sat in the car in silence for a while, listening only to the sound of each others frantic breathing. When the airbag had deflated, Gibbs pushed it aside, "Kate, outside, now!" he said in a strangely calm voice.
"Did we hit something?" McGee asked, waking up as Gibbs and Kate climbed out of the car
"The car didn't, Probie. But they did" Tony replied, nodding towards Gibbs and Kate, "A bump in their relationship already" Tony said, shaking his head
"They're in a relationship?" McGee asked, stunned
"Depends who you ask" Tony replied
"I think I missed something" McGee said, frowning as he tried to undo his seatbelt
"I know you did, Probie" Tony responded, following McGee's actions, "Ow! That's gonna hurt like hell later" he said as he examined the mark across his chest. He sighed, "How far away is the next good coffee shop?"
"We've already passed it" McGee replied, "We tried to wake you, but you wouldn't budge. We got you a coffee, but it was going cold so Kate drank it, Gibbs said it wasn't strong enough and was too sweet"
"It's better than the sludge he drinks" Tony responded. Tony opened the door and got out, stretching his legs and yawning. He looked over to where Kate and Gibbs were talking and wondered what they were talking about. Gibbs was waving his arms around, emphasizing what he was saying, he looked pretty pissed. Kate stood with her arms folded and looked equally pissed. Tony sighed and leaned against the car, folding his arms. He began thinking of what agency he would move to when he handed in his resignation, it would still come as a shock to Gibbs that he still wanted to leave, but at the end of the day, it was his choice, not Gibbs'. Perhaps the feds, he smirked when he thought of working with Fornell, yeah, that could be interesting…
"You're not quitting, I'm not gonna let you!" Gibbs told her
"You don't have a choice!" Kate replied, leveling her eyes at Gibbs
"I'm not going to let you resign, Kate! I won't accept your resignation!" Gibbs responded
"So, I'll hand it straight to the director!" Kate said
"Why do you want to leave!"
"Why do you want me to stay!"
Gibbs turned around and threw his hands into the air. He looked back to the car and watched Tony leaning against the car. Crossing his arms over his chest, Gibbs turned back to Kate, "Because I don't want you to leave. You're one of the best agents I've ever worked with, you …"
"Is that all you see me as? An agent?" Kate asked infuriated, "I can't believe you! You're pathetic!"
"What do you expect me to say, Kate? Of course I see you as an agent, first and foremost. Everything else comes second. Why do you think relationships in workplaces don't work? Especially our workplace?..."
"Because you don't let them!" Kate interrupted him
"We don't have time for relationships!" Gibbs continued
"So, make time!" Kate responded
Kate and Gibbs glared at each other, turning it into a staring contest. Kate glared into Gibbs' eyes, flicking between each eye, noticing that one of his eyes was slightly smaller than the other. Gibbs glared into Kate's eyes, seeing the mascara and blush that she'd applied yesterday, which was beginning to wear off. He watched as her eyes began to water from staring too long without blinking, she could be as stubborn as he was when she wanted to be. Gibbs' cell rang, causing them to break out of the contest. Kate blinked a few times and walked away from Gibbs, in the opposite direction of the car, she didn't talk with the others just yet, she wanted some time alone.
Gibbs watched Kate walk off, and kept his eyes on her as he flicked out his cell and growled into it. Ducky was on the other end,
"Did I interrupt something?" Ducky asked
"Yes" Gibbs replied as he hung up.
He put his cell away and rubbed his face. He walked after Kate, trying to think about what he was going to say, he mentally hit himself over his head for telling her that he thought of her as an agent first and a person second. They both knew that wasn't true. He sighed, he felt that anything he would say now would probably make things worse, perhaps he should just leave it, tell her to go back to the car. At least, if that happened he'd have more time to think and could make it up to her later. He grinned as he thought of the possibilities. The grin disappeared though as he neared Kate, he stood behind her and spoke softly, "Kate, I…"
"Forget it, Gibbs. I thought we were getting somewhere last night, but it seems I was wrong" Kate interrupted him, turning around to face him "I thought we had something, I was sure there was a spark when we first met on Air Force One"
"What? Like, love at first sight?" Gibbs asked, raising an eyebrow
"Something like that" Kate replied
"Well, now who's being pathetic?" Gibbs asked, semi-seriously
Kate rolled her eyebrows and growled as she walked past him, heading back to the car.
Gibbs reached out and grabbed her arm as she walked past, "Kate, that's not what I meant"
"Get your hands off me!" Kate growled
Gibbs looked into her eyes, seeing their threat. He did as she told him and watched as she stalked back to the car.
Tony was throwing the keys to the car into the air and catching them again. He watched as Gibbs grabbed Kate's arm. Tony caught the keys and started walking towards them, intending to restrain and/or hurt Gibbs if he tried to hurt Kate. After taking a few steps, he noticed Gibbs release Kate and saw Kate heading back to the car. She didn't look too happy; Tony looked back to Gibbs, who was also watching Kate with a regretful expression on his face. Tony wondered what had happened between the two of them, anything was possible; they were as stubborn as each other and usually got what they wanted. So why were they not together? Tony knew that was what they both wanted.
Kate approached the car and glared at Tony, "Give me the keys. I'm driving" she told him
Tony raised his eyebrows, "You sure that's a good idea, Kate?" he asked, thinking it probably wasn't a good idea for her to be driving if she was pissed off and upset.
Kate growled something incomprehensible at him, and held out her hand expectantly for the keys. Tony obliged and watched her go and get into the driver's seat. He ducked his head into the car.
"Shouldn't we wait for Gibbs?" he asked
"No, we're leaving him behind" Kate replied seriously, trying to start the engine
"He'll be pretty pissed" Tony told her
"I don't care!" Kate shouted at him, trying to start the engine again. She turned the keys, waiting for the engine to roar into life and swore when it screeched, then spluttered and died
"I think you flooded it" Tony suggested as Kate got out of the car
"I haven't bloody flooded it! I know how to drive the bloody thing!" she shouted at him, popping the hood, she pointed at Gibbs, "He probably overheated it from his damn dangerous and foolish driving! Not too mention giving us all whip-lash from the hand-brakey he pulled"
She walked around to the front of the car and lifted up the hood, attaching the rod so that it didn't fall down again whilst she was looking inside.
"He didn't use the hand-brake, Kate" Tony said, standing by her side
"Do I look like I care?" Kate asked as she found the container for the water
"Yes" Tony replied, watching as she took off the lid to the container and grunted, "Empty?"
Kate nodded, "Any spare water?"
Tony walked around the side of the car and looked through it, asking McGee if he knew where Gibbs kept spare water incase this sort of thing happened. McGee told him to try to boot. A while later, Tony came back with a two-litre bottle of water and poured it into the container. "Were you serious about resigning?" he asked
"Yeah, were you?" Kate responded
Tony nodded, "Still going to"
"Why?" Kate asked
"Don't think I can work there any longer. Apart from the fact that you guys now know, don't know, just too stressful" Tony replied
Kate nodded, "Yeah, I know the feeling. I'm still going to as well"
Tony emptied the bottle and put the cap back on the container. "Well, I want you to know that you have my full support whether or not you choose to leave"
Kate smiled, "Thanks, and I, you"
That's it for chapter 31... I hope you like it! Please review, please!